Poster holding device



p i 20, 1965 15.5. HOWELL 3,178,841

POSTER HOLDING DEVICE Filed May 16, 1961 1 I2 10 1 K J 1 L I I l 38 I| bl I 5ai 54 MAP I i lb IHIII. qf r26 H i r g i I 1 g, 50/

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48y DAVID HOWELL a 6W9 United States Patent 3,178,841 POSTER HOLDINGDEVICE David S. Howell, Royal Oak, Mich., assignor to Arlington AluminumCompany, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed May 16, 1961,Ser. No. 110,486 8 Claims. (Cl. 4010) This invention relates to posterholders and poster combinations.

One object of this invention is to provide a poster holder and postercombination wherein can be quickly and easily inserted in the holderthrough the aperture in the front of the border frame thereof in such amanner that the poster holder possesses a continuous border frame whichcompletely surrounds the poster so as to wholly conceal its entireperiphery and which does not require movable sections or other specialconstructions which detract from its appearance or otherwise make itappear other than an unbroken rectangular bordered frame.

Another object is to provide a poster holder and poster combination ofthe foregoing character wherein the poster at opposite corners along oneside thereof is notched out and wherein the poster holder hastrough-like recesses or channels for receiving the poster, the posterholder border opening and the poster having predetermined relativedimensions enabling the poster to be easily inserted from the frontwhile bowed, by pushing it through the central opening of the borderframe without the necessity of removing the poster holder from the wallor other structure upon which it is mounted.

Another object is to provide a poster holder and poster combination asset forth in the object immediately preceding, wherein the bottomtrough-like recess or channel of the poster holder contains a filler orstop which prevents the lower edge of the poster extending between thetwo corner notches from descending below a predetermined depth in therecess or channel after being inserted in the poster holder.

Another object is to provide a poster holder and poster combination ofthe foregoing character which may be constructed either for display of asingle poster on one side thereof or of two posters on opposite sidesthereof.

Another object is to provide a modified poster holder and postercombination of the foregoing character which .does not require the useof a back plate completely filling the central opening of the borderframe.

Another object is to provide a single-sided poster holder and postercombination wherein the poster holder is constructed with its borderframe members integral with the back plate, thereby simplifying theconstruction and reducing the cost of manufacture thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a poster holder and poster combination,with the outline of the poster inserted therein shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section taken along the lin 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line.

33 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section similar to FIGURE 2 but showing amodified construction providing a singlesided poster holder, wherein theposter holder border and back plate are integral with one another, theposter itself being omitted from this view;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the righthand side andcorner portions of a further modified poster (holder wherein the backplate is replaced by corner plates or gussets, thereby eliminating theneed for a back plate;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 6-6 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section taken along the line similar to the line22 in FIGURE 1, but showing a still further modified constructionproviding a double-sided poster holder; and

FIGURE 8 is a front elevation, upon a reduced scale, of the posterremoved from the poster holder shown in FIGURE 1, and shown therein indotted lines.

Hitherto, poster holders have required cutout portions, hinged rims ormovable border rails or the like in order to provide for insertion of aposter which is larger than the border frame openings so as to beretained by the overlapping of its edge portions behind the border railsor frame members. These prior constructions are not only complicated andexpensive to produce but are subject to being damaged by vandalism wherethe operation is understandable at a glance.

The present poster holder includes a border frame with immovable borderrails or frame members with a poster or card of special outline and ofparticularly related dimensions and proportions to the border frame. Thedifferent forms in the sketches are generally similar in constructionand principle of operation, depending on whether or not the frame holdsa single poster on one side or two posters back to back on oppositesides and whether or not the frame has a back plate, to serve as anabutment for the poster.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURES 1 to 3 inclusive show asingle-sided backed poster holder, generally designated 10, including aborder frame, generally designated 11, made up of four border rails 12,14, 16 and 18 of angle cross-section similar in construction anddimensions, and mitered or obliquely cut at their opposite ends to fitone another. Each consists of a peripheral side wall 20 with aninwardly-projecting perpendicular flange 22. The peripheral walls 20 areridged and grooved as at 24 to receive the peripheral edge portions of aback plate 26. Secured by screws 28 to the back plate 26 are inclinedmembers 30, the outer edges of which engage the bottoms 32 of thechannels or U-shaped recesses 34 formed by the cooperation of the backplate 26 with the angle border rails 12, 14, 16 and 18. Inserted in thebottom channel 34 is a filler bar 36 which occupies and fills upapproximately half the depth of the channel. The horizontal border rails12 and 16 have inner edges 38, whereas the vertical side rails 14 and 18have inner edges 40, the ends of the rails being mitered to fit togetherand produce an open central rectangular aperture or opening 42. The backplate 26 and inclined members 30 cooperatively form a poster abutmentstructure for a poster inserted behind the border frame 11 in the mannerdescribed below.

The poster 50 (shown in FIGURE 8 and in dotted lines in FIGURE 1) is inthe form of an approximately rectangular card with a top edge 52 equalin length ap proximately to the distance between the bottoms of thechannels in the side members 14 and 18 so as to completely fill thechannels 34 therein, whereas the side edges 54 have lower corner notches56 with horizontal and vertical sides 58 and 60 leaving a shorter bottomedge 62 which is substantially the same length as the inner border edge38 of the bottom rail 16. The sides 58 and 60 of the notches 56 areapproximately equal to the depth of the channels 34, but the combinedheight of the card 50 consisting of the lengths 54 and 60 added togetheris less by the depth of the channel 34 of the top rail 20 than the widthbetween the bottoms of the channels of the top and bottom rails 12 and16, not including the filler 36. If the border rails are all of the samechannel depth, the bottom notches 56 are square notches, otherwise not.

equal length and pushed into the channel 34 thereof,

leaving the shorter lower edge portion 64 outside the opening 42. Theoperator then bows or springs the card 50 so as to withdraw its otheredge 54 back to the other border wall edge 40, permitting it to slipinto the channel 34 thereof. The operator then pushes upward on thelower edge 62 of the poster 50 to force its upper edge 52 behind theupper rail edge 38 into the upper channel 34 until the lower edge 62comes opposite the lower inner rail edge 38 and can be pushed past itinto the opening 42. The operator then lets the poster 50 drop of itsown weight so that its lower edge 62 comes to rest-against the fillerbar 36 of FIGURE 1 fills up the lower channel 32 filler 36, with theupper edge 52 concealed behind the upper rail edge 38.

The modified single-sided poster holder, generally designated 70, shownin FIGURE'4 is similar in principle to that shown in FIGURES 1 to 3*inclusive, but has upper and lower border rails 72 and 76- of channelcross-section integral with side rails 74 also of channel cross-section.The rails 72, 74 and 76 comprise'flanges 78, 80 and 82 respectivelyintegral with a back plate or poster abutment structure 84 and connectedthereto by bent portions 86, 88 and 90; These flanges 78,180 and 82cooperate with their respective bent edge portions 86, 88 and 90 toprovide an upper channel 92, a; lower channel 94 and side channels 96respectively. The upper channel 92 and side channels 96 are preferablyof substantially the same depth, whereas the lower channel 94 ispreferably of approximately half the depth of the upper and sidechannels 92- and-964' The ends of the flanges 7'8; 80 and 82 are miteredor obliquely cut to fitone ane other in the same manner as shown inFIGURE 1, and a poster (not shown) of similar construction and dimensions' is used. The one-piece poster holder 70 of FIG- URE 4 dispenseswiththe need for the filler bar 36 (FIGURE 2) when the channel 94 ismade sufliciently shallow, as stated above. The insertion of theposter50 of FIGURE 1 in the modified poster holder 70 of FIG- URE 4 is thesame as that described above in connection with FIGURES '1 to 3inclusive, and hence requires no repetition. V

The further modified single-sided poster holder, generally designated100, shown in fragmentary form in FIGURES and 6 is for the same purposeas the poster holder of FIGURES l, 2 and 3 and uses aposter 50 of thesame relative dimensions and corner notches, but

dispenses with the back plate 26.. The poster holder 100 consists ofupper andlowerborder rails 102 and 106 respectively interconnected byside rails 104. The border rails 102, 104 and 106 are of similarconstruction and.

are of angle cross-section as shown in FIGURE 6 with a front flange 108and edge flanges 110. The border rails 102, 104 and 106 are thus capableof production by extrusion. The edge flanges 110 are preferably thickerthan the front flanges 108 in order to receive fasteners 112 by whichdiagonal corner plates or gusset to the edge flanges 110. The triangularplates114 thus collectively constitute a poster abutment structurespaced away from the front flanges 108 to provide triangular cornerpockets 116 therebetween for receiving the edge portions of the poster50 (not shown); inthe samemanner as shown in FIGURE 1. The triangularcorner plates 114 have'oblique inner edges 118 (FIGURE 5) past which theupper corners of the upper edge .52 of the poster 50 must be inserted.The lower border rail 106,

, like the lower border rail 16 of FIGURES 1 to 3 inclusiveis providedwith a filler. bar ,120 of approximately half the depth of the pocket116, in each of the lower corners of poster holder 100 so as topartlyfill up the lower corner pockets 116 in the same manner that thein the lower border rail 16.

Theposter 50, as its number indicates, is of the same construction andrelative dimensions of the poster 50 of FIGURE 1 and has similarnotched-out lower corners 56. The poster 50 is inserted in the posterholder in the same manner previously described in connection with FIGURE1, hence requires no repetition of description except to state that onlythe corners or corner portions of the poster 50 are now held in thecorner pockets 116, the side edges elsewhere being without backingflanges or plates.

The still further modified poster holder, generally designated 130,shown in FIGURE, 7 is a double-sided poster holder having channel-shapedupper and lower border rails 132 and 136 and similar channel side rails134. Each border rail consists of front and rear flanges 138 and 140interconnected by an edge web 142 so as to provide a trough-shapedchannel 144 therein. The lower channel 144 is provided with a filler bar146 of approximately halfthe depth of the lower channel 144 and servingthe same purpose as the filler bar 36 of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. Secured atits upper and side edges to the border rails 132 and 134'and restingupon the filler bar 146 in the lower side rail 136 is a back plate orposter abutment structure 148 disposed halfway between the front andrear flanges 138 an'd'140 so as to provide front and rear channels ortrough-like recesses 150 and 152 respectively." The terms front and rearare purely relative terms employed for distinguishing purposes onlysince the double-sided poster holder 130 of FIGURE 7 'is ordinarilymounted upon a stanchion or other upright support (not shown) in such amanner as to receive posters 154 and 15 6 on opposite sides of the backplate 148. The back plate 148is optional and is intended primarily foroutdoor use where they posters 154' and 156,

otherwise placed back-to-back, would lack sufl'icient rigidity toprevent their being blown away by high winds.

The posters 154 and 156 are of the same relative dimensions andconstruction with notched out lower corners as the poster 50'ofFIGURES'I to 3 inclusive, and are inserted in the same manner describedabove, hence a duplication of description is not believed necessary.

What I claim is: 1. A poster and poster holder combination, compris inga c ontinuous border frame having top, side and hottom border membersconnected to one another end-toend and disposed around anopen'approximately rectangular center aperture, said border framemembersincluding peripheral walls disposedat the margins of said borderframe and poster-retaining flanges extending inwardly from saidperipheral walls toward said central aperture, poster abutment structurespaced away from said border frame members but connected thereto andcooperating therewith to define'poster-edgeereceiving grooves disposedbetween said border frame members and said abutment structure, saidgrooves facing inwardly toward said central aperture, the groove in thebottom border member having a depth substantially less than the depth ofthe groove disposed in the top border member. opposite theretoacrosssaid central aperture; and a poster of flexible sheet material ofapproximately rectangular outline disposed in said border frame and'having right-angled corner notches at the opposite ends of the bottomedge thereof fitting into the corners of the grooves of the adjacentborder members, the sides of said notches having lengths approximatelyequal to the depths of theirrespective grooves,

groove forming a resultant groove of said lesser depth.

3. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 1, whereinsaid opposite border members have grooves of approximately the samedepth and wherein one of said last-mentioned grooves has a fillerdisposed therein forming a resultant groove of said lesser depth.

4. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 1, whereinsaid poster abutment structure includes rearward poster retainingmembers secured to the end portions of each adjacent pair of borderframe members on the rearward sides thereof and extending across thecorner therebetween in spaced relationship to the flanges thereof.

5. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 4, whereinsaid rearward poster retaining members include plates disposed acrossthe corners between the said end portions of said adjacent pairs ofborder frame members.

6. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 1, whereinsaid poster abutment structure includes rearward flanges on said borderframe members extending inwardly toward said central aperture intransversely-spaced relationship with said previously-mentioned flanges.

7. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 6, whereina partition member is disposed in said central aperture in closingrelationship therewith and has its peripheral edges disposed in saidborder member grooves in spaced relationship with saidtransverselyspaced flanges.

8. A poster and poster holder combination, according to claim 1, whereinthe combined height of the poster is less by the depth of the groove ofless depth than the width between the bottoms of the grooves of thediametrically-opposite top and bottom border frame members, the bottomone of which contains the groove of less depth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,315,892 9/19Wilson. 1,553,585 9/25 Anthony 40l0 2,608,776 9/52 Schuler 40-102,888,764 6/59 Knox 40152 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,760 5/53 Canada.

597,247 8/25 France.

722,249 12/31 France.

113, 844 3 26 Switzerland.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

E. V. BENHAM, J. L. LENNY, Examiners.

1. A POSTER AND POSTER HOLDER COMBINATION, COMPRISING A CONTINUOUSBORDER FRAME HAVING TOP, SIDE AND BOTTOM BORDER MEMBERS CONNECTED TO ONEANOTHER END-TOEND AND DISPOSED AROUND AN OPEN APPROXIMATELY RECTANGULARCENTR APERTURE, SAID BORDER FROM MEMBERS INCLUDING PERIPHERAL WALLSDISPOSED AT THE MARGINS OF SAID BORDER FRAME AND POSTER-RETAININGFLANGES EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAID PERIPHERAL WALLS TOWARD SAIDCENTRAL APERTURE, POSTER ABUTMENT STRUCTURE SPACED AWAY FROM SAID BORDERFRAME MEMBERS BUT CONNECTED THERETO AND COOPERATING THEREWITH TO DEFINEPOSTER-EDGE-RECEIVING GROOVES DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID BORDER FRAME MEMBERSAND SAID ABUTMENT STRUCTURE, SAID GROOVE FACING INWARDLY TOWARD SAIDCENTRAL APERTURE, THE GROOVE IN THE BOTTOM BORDER MEMBER HAVING A DEPTHSUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE DEPTH OF THE GROOVE DISPOSED IN THE TOPBORDER MEMBER OPPOSITE THERETO ACROSS SAID CENTRAL APERTURE; AND APOSTER OF FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL OF APPROXIMATELY RECTANGULAR OUTLINECORNER IN SAID BORDER FRAME AND HAVING RIGHT-ANGLED CORNER NOTCHES ATTHE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE BOTTOM EDGE THEREOF FITTING INTO THE CORNERS OFTHE GROOVES OF THE ADJACENT BORDER MEMBERS, THE SIDES OF SAID NOTCHESHAVING LENGTHS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE DEPTHS OF THEIR RESPECTIVEGROOVES, AND THE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID NOTCHES AT SAID BOTTOMEDGE OF SAID POSTER BEING AT LEAST AS LONG AS THE HORIZONTAL LENGTH OFSAID APERTURE.